Kerry Shepherd is looking at a view of creeks, forested areas and undulating land in the Currumbin Valley on the Gold Coast in Queensland. She and her husband Chris Walton have led the development of the 110 hectares of land in front of her to become The Ecovillage at Currumbin – a property development they believe will be world’s best practice in ecologically sustainable community living. 

Ultimately, The Ecovillage will be home to around 500 residents living within the planned 144 lots. According to Shepherd, the sub-division has been the first to achieve local authority permission to voluntarily disconnect from mains water and rely instead on rainwater and recycled wastewater. 100% of wastewater will be treated and sent back to homes for reuse in gardens, toilets and washing machines. Homes will be solar-powered but also connected to the grid, and a specially-designed architectural and landscaping code will ensure that houses are built to be energy efficient and ‘softly’ engineered to ensure minimal disruption to the environment and landscape during construction. 

Shepherd and Walton also say that while most other developments follow an 80:20 rule of 80% building development versus 20% for roads, parks and other common-use facilities, they have turned this ratio on its head. “80% of the site will be left as open space and only 20% is going to be developed,” says Shepherd. 

The ambitious property development has won numerous awards. In 2006 alone, it garnered Best Sustainable Urban Development Award from the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency;Leadership in Business Sustainability Award from the Queensland Minister for Local Government, Planning and the Environment to Chris Walton; Queensland’s Best Small Residential Subdivision Award from the Urban Design Institute of Australia and Queensland’s Best Ecologically Sustainable Development. It is now being touted by government departments, developers and sustainability experts as a triumph of ecologically sustainable principles. However, it began as simple, idealistic dream.

Why create The Ecovillage?

Back in 1994,Walton and Shepherd wanted to create a sustainable house to live in on the Gold Coast.“We’re both fairly radically green,” says Shepherd.“We were also both fairly disillusioned and angry with the way the Gold Coast property industry was heading at the time. There were approvals granted which allowed the destruction of pristine areas, the Hinterland was being encroached upon and the sprawl here was mimicking that of Los Angeles.”

As keen environmentalists, they wanted to ensure their own home reflected their values and planned to retrofit an existing house with rainwater tanks and other ecologically sustainable features.

However, Martin Jackson – then-President of Gecko, a leading environmental group of the Gold Coast and Hinterland – recognise the duo’s passion and suggested they take their idea one step further. “He was very inspirational,” remembers Shepherd. “He said: ‘Why are you staying so small with your ideas? You have the drive, passion and energy to take it further.You could do a small sub-division or a whole community’.”

Fortunately, both had experience in the property industry – Walton as a property valuer and Shepherd with extensive experience in both town planning and property legal industries.

Jackson introduced the pair to Village Homes in Davis, California – first completed in 1982 and still considered a best practice model for sustainable land use and community living.With their interest piqued,Walton and Shepherd wondered whether they could really take on the huge task of developing an entire community. 

“The seed had been sown by Martin,” says Shepherd.  “But we hadn’t decided whether we could make the commitment.”

In 1998, the pair married and decided to combine their honeymoon with an ecovillage tour of the world, visiting the famed Villages Homes in California and other sustainable living projects in the United States, Scotland,Wales, and Europe. “We gathered as much information and learnt as much as we could,” says Shepherd.“We came back with all guns blazing and knew we wanted to do it.

“We knew that if we just stuck to the sustainable house project, we would have missed out on the community aspect.We wanted to live in a sustainable community which was also a social hub. None of the existing sub-divisions and cities really plan for that.”

Turning an idea into reality

Shepherd says they consulted the local council from day one. “It was really important to us to get a feel for what the local authority thought of our idea. After all, they were going to make the decision as to whether it could go ahead ,” she says. “We’ve kept that communication and liaison going every step of the way.We let them know what we were doing even when we weren’t required to. That way, no one can come back to you to say they weren’t consulted.”

After finding an appropriate site, three years of negotiation ensued before the vendor finally agreed to sell in 2000. “Because our goal is to supply 40% of our food from the site, we knew it had to be in a fertile valley area so that limited where we could look,” says Shepherd.“We couldn’t be in the growth corridor where there is a lot of rock and shale, because you can’t grow much on that except for brick veneer!”

After securing the site, the pair knew they needed an investor to take it to the next stage. They first tried to interest a number of developers. “That didn’t work out because they wanted to water down the integrity of the environmental features,” says Shepherd. They eventually found a private investor, Dennis Lever, who believed in what they were doing. He invested around A$2 million to take it to development approval stage. To create the business vehicle to make this happen, Landmatters was formed. While Lever funded the dollars, Shepherd and Walton put in the years of research and expertise. 

Landmatters put together a cast of engineers, consultants, master planners, fauna experts, water and waste-water engineers, body corporate experts, energy efficiency consultants – the list goes on.

“In 2001,we began an extensive community consultation process. Our first meeting had over 480 interested members of the community.We asked for their input and incorporated many of their ideas in the plan.”

Some of those suggestions included a bed and breakfast, a larger conference centre with dormitories instead of the planned village hall which was just designed for meetings, and outdoor amphitheatres. 

It took Landmatters two years to put together the development application, which included liaison with regulatory authorities including local and state government departments, ongoing communication with the community and other stakeholder groups. Finally, in 2003, approval was granted.

Once development approval was given, Landmatters sought construction financing.“Westpac was the second bank we approached and they came on board with 100% construction finance, usually unheard of in the development industry. This will be up to A$40 million over the duration of the project,” says Shepherd. 

Lots in The Ecovillage have been sold in three stages.  The first stage was released in early 2005, the second in early 2006 and the third in late 2006. “Out of the 144 lots, there are 17 one-bedroom lots, 22 two-bedroom and the rest are for unlimited bedrooms,” says Shepherd. “The reason is twofold: to address what we believe may be Australia’s next social crisis – housing affordability – and to also achieve a good social mix of people.The prices also span a wide range from A$195,000 to, currently, A$395,000.  The third stage will include elevated small acreage lots with ocean views – these will attract a top Gold Coast property dollar value and have not been valued yet.”

Construction of the first house began in 2006 and Walton’s and Shepherd’s dream is coming to fruition. 

“It’s very rewarding,” says Shepherd, who also admits that the entire process has also been fraught with frustration.“We’re charting a new course. This is a true way of leading by example in the property industry.We get at least four visits a week from regular developers and we’re winning awards for our work.”

When the last lot is sold, Shepherd says she’s ready to leave the world of property development but concedes that Walton is likely to continue his work in the industry, probably lobbying state and local governments to legislate on developer obligations.  “The Ecovillage will become a working model that shows the changes we and the local government have implemented create a sustainable community.”

In 10 years, when The Ecovillage is firmly established as a thriving community, Shepherd already has a clear picture of what she’ll be doing. “It’s going to be a subtropical paradise here,” she says. “There are food fruit walks, pieces of art everywhere, bike tracks and wildlife.  I’ll be going for my five-kilometre walk on site, nicking down to the café to meet a friend, and popping into the bakery and stores to pick up organically grown food.”

www.theecovillage.com.au

Where is The Ecovillage?

Situated in Currumbin Valley, The Ecovillage is:

• 10 minutes from Coolangatta Airport
• 7 minutes from the beach
• 4kms from the Pacific Highway
• 7kms from the nearest shopping centres
• 7kms from the main Gold Coast strip
• Within 4 to 7kms of various schools